Lush's 'Vanishing Cream'.

I went into Lush a couple of weeks ago primarily for some bath bombs for my dear father. However, the eagle-eyed shop assistant saw me looking around the shop on my own, tempted by all the delightful goodies and he made the most of my vulnerability and bulging purse.
The 'Vanishing Cream' was one of the things I left with. I had explained my acne plight to the guy, and he recommended this as a moisturiser because it didn't leave any nasty film on the skin, tit wouldn't overload my skin and the ingredients wouldn't cause any sensitivity or irritation.

The Lush website describes this products as:
A low fat moisturiser that disappears into the skin.
This is a moisturiser for those who want a cream that doesn’t sit on the skin for ages. This cream vanishes completely, leaving nothing behind except beautifully soft skin.
Firstly, it smells wonderful. You can definitely tell that there is Lavender in the ingredients list! It is quite relaxing when applying it before I go to bed - as I apply the cream it also releases the Lavender smell into the air which makes you pleasantly sleepy and relaxed! Two in one! However, the Lavender actually has another function - it apparently contains antiseptic properties!

It is a very moisturising cream, You don't need a lot of the cream for the face, a little does go a long way! It is a light formulation, and isn't heavy on the skin. When I wake up after applying it the night before, my skin is very soft and does feel moisturised.
I would disagree with what they say about the cream leaving 'nothing behind'. After applying it to my skin, I do still feel like there is product on my skin, even leaving it half and hour to sink in. It does feel a little bit greasy, and there is a definite shine left to my skin. This doesn't bother me, but I just disagree with their marketing of the product, the whole point being that it sank in leaving nothing!
I'm not sure on the suitability of this product for acne prone skins. It has had no effect on my acne; it hasn't made it worse, but it hasn't cleared it up either. The fact that it did leave a greasy film on my skin makes me question whether it would be suitable, I have looked on the Makeupalley reviews for this product, and a lot of people have said that it breaks them out.
One thing it does do well, is moisturise my skin when it's sore and cracked. I have suffered no irritation, stinging or redness when using this on skin after Retin-A usage. It might be the natural ingredients and the lack lots of synthetic chemicals, but it is nice to find another cream in addition to my Aquaphor which I can use when my skin is in a sorry state!

At £16.75 per 45g pot, I do think it is a little bit expensive for what feels like a basic moisturiser with an environmentally-friendly background. It doesn't do anything to my skin that cheaper moisturisers haven't done in the past, and I haven't noticed a massive difference in the way my skin feels. It moisturises alright, smells nice and contains lots of naturally derived products. But that's really it. And due to that, I'll finish the tub up, but won't repurchase this product.

Have you guys tried the 'Vanishing Cream', and if you have, what do you think of it? Are there any other Lush products I have to try?

Dermalogica's 'Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF 30'

I bought this cream months ago, I actually can't remember when. But I have been using it religiously every single day since I bought it so I can safely say it's time to review it!

It is a daily moisturiser with an SPF of 30, which is perfect for this time of year. The higher SPF's are probably not necessary (in theory, however I don't like NOT having SPF 50 on any occasion) in weather like this where the sun rarely gets to poke his yellow face through the clouds, but you know ladies, his cheeky little rays can make their way through cloud cover, which is why I think it is ESSENTIAL that everybody wears something on their face in the day with an SPF. Anyway, back to the subject...

It is moisturising enough so that your skin doesn't dry in this awful weather, yet it doesn't look greasy upon the skin. My skin feels moisturised and hydrated at the end of the day, even after my cycle to the train station, a train ride and a walk to university, and the reverse on the way home! I've really put the cream through it's paces ;).
It leaves a natural glow on my skin, but my skin is oily anyway so the glowy-ness is probably due to that.

It comes out of the tube as a white cream but sinks into the skin like a dream, leaving no white cast and no trace of anything, meaning it's perfect under make-up or tinted moisturiser.
I do like the fact that it's colourless and not tinted, because I think I'm a really weird shade of pinky-white through years of sun avoidance, and so I do find it hard to find foundations and tinted things to actually match my skin tone! So the fact that it's colourless is really good, and if you wanted to apply a foundation or whatever on top you can without looking greasy. I normally use Clinque's 'Super City Block SPF 40' (click here for a full review) and I don't have any issues with layering those two products.

It has a smell, yet I can't really describe what it's like. It's nothing particularly bad, I'm just saying that there definitely is a smell there. They haven't put any artificial colours or fragrances in the little pot of creamy goodness, so the smell isn't due to any nasties.

My 50ml tube has lasted me aaages, so it's definitely an investment. I normally use one pump for my forehead, one pump for both cheeks and a tiny pump for my chin. I like to make sure my whole face is covered with a substantial amount, just to make sure that the cheeky sun rays don't touch my skin! Even though I probably use more than most normal people would use, it still has lasted me ages, and the Dermalogica girls said that 50mls would actually last you about 6 months. I don't know how true this is and whether it was just a sales push, but it does last a long time.

The only things that's kinda negative about the product is that is you have quite raw cracked skin (past experience talking here) it does tend to sting upon application, yet this stinging does subside. So if you do have really dry cracked skin (and mine was really really really dry) I would not go for this, the stinging does feel a bit sore.

Even my Dermalogica tube is feeling Christmassy with it's kyoot little bobble-hat!
Not long now till St. Nick comes down the chimney!